Let’s start with a quick review of the pieces and what I paid:

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With the motherboard and CPU installed I was ready to add the final and perhaps easiest parts to the build. I started with a DVD drive. In practice I almost never use DVD’s any more, preferring to mount ISO files as drives (which also means I can keep them all… Read more

Reading about the motherboard choices took a while. Because I had already decided on a CPU, the Intel I7 I at least had an initial filter. If you’re shopping for one today you want a board that has the Z77 chipset with an LGA 1155 socket – easy to spot… Read more

I saw it in the Connector, but just had time to read the minutes to see what was behind the decision to end the SQLRally franchise in the US. The minutes had precious little to say:

The Board evaluated the revenue, resources, and sustainability of the SQLRally NA model and…

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I was reading about the American Association of Woodturners annual symposium that will be held in Tampa this year (and yes, I plan to attend) and ran across this document that describes their process for picking a site each year. It’s not an equation, but here is the opening section… Read more

With a case ordered and a CPU in mind I decided to focus on the power supply next. Remember that the better cases come with fans but not with a power supply (and in general that’s good, you want to pick you own).

As I did the reading I found… Read more

This past weekend I was back in Tampa for the sixth annual SQLSaturday. It’s a trip I always look forward to – its only about a 2 hour drive, the event is in Ybor City with tons of dining options, and the event always attracts a great crowd.

There… Read more

One of the minor features/quirks/annoyances of MS Access is that if you create a single macro or code module you get a prompt to ‘Enable Content’, designed to prevent malicious code from running without you knowing it. I tend to just leave it open for long periods and so it… Read more

Building a computer, at least in the beginning, feels like something you have to do holistically and at the same time like a chicken and the egg scenario. For example, what size power supply you buy depends on what you’re going to use for your video card. Not all video… Read more

It’s been four years – maybe more – since I last bought a workstation to use for development and lab work. It’s served me well since then, hasn’t changed much, but is slow by the standards of what I use today even in my laptop. When I bought the last… Read more

My Nexus 7 tablet has grown on me, though I think it’s more about having a dedicated tablet than the hardware. I’ve never been a big fan of cases for devices, they seem to throw away the lightness of the form factor that we pass extra for, and without any… Read more

It’s easy to get comfortable in a job and neglect to capture the relationships and connections you’ve built – for me it’s LinkedIn, but using whatever product you prefer. Think about work today. You work with a handful or two of colleagues that you really know, but you know a… Read more

I think it was because I had just received an email about sponsoring a SQLSaturday that had me thinking about it on the drive to the office today. It’s not easy to walk up to a table and get an understanding of what a product does beyond the sound bite… Read more

Last year LinkedIn rolled out a new feature called endorsements, not to be confused with recommendations. Recommendations are free form comments from a connection about you and your work, endorsements are a click-here if your connection knows skill x. I think it’s a great feature. Asking for a recommendation can… Read more

Ever since it was announced I’ve been ambivalent about the PASS Business Analytics Conference. I believe PASS should look for places to grow the community and the craft. I believe PASS should take some risks and endure the occasional loss (as long as it is not a bet the… Read more

My friend Don Gabor is presenting a two hour seminar titled “Mastering the Art of Conversation and Making Business Contacts” in New York City on February 21. If you’re in the area it’s well worth the $30 to attend – you can register at http://skl.sh/129G4gM. 

Not in NYC? Don… Read more

I’m planning to attend  SQLSaturday #200 in Philadelphia on June 1, 2013. Number 200! This will be my first trip to Philly and I’m bringing the family with me so we can spend a couple days there and then after the event we’ll be taking the train to DC for… Read more

Quite a few years ago my first job in the military was driving a tracked vehicle, a variant of the well known M113. Drivers drive of course, but they also own the routine maintenance of the vehicle, a process that starts with daily and weekly checks from a checklist –… Read more

Compromise is one of those things that makes the world work. I can’t say I’ve always been good at it. It takes practice and more practice, listening deeply to what the other side says and doesn’t say, and looking inward to separate pride from what matters. That led, for me,… Read more

I was catching up on reading today and saw that Instructables had a how-to on “tattooing” a banana, also called banana oxidation art. I had bananas available, so I printed SQLSaturday on some paper, taped it to the banana, and starting punching holes with a straight pin. It… Read more